Elkhart County, IN Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)
Key Facts
- Tax rate
- 5% of gross lodging income
- Local ordinance
- County Code § 36.045
- State rate authority
- I.C. 6-9-19-3
- Collected by
- County Treasurer
- Proceeds fund
- Convention and Visitor Promotion Fund
- Fund created under
- County Code § 31.020
- Original enactment
- Ord. 83M-001, June 11, 1983
Summary
Elkhart County levies a 5% innkeeper's tax on gross retail income from lodging under County Code § 36.045, which sets the rate under I.C. 6-9-19-3 and reaches any person who rents rooms, lodgings or accommodations to transient guests, including short-term rental hosts operating in the unincorporated county. The County Treasurer collects and deposits the proceeds into the Convention and Visitor Promotion Fund created under County Code § 31.020.
§ 36.045 COUNTY INNKEEPER’S TAX.
(A) The innkeeper’s tax referenced at I.C. 6-9-19, and more specifically at I.C. 6-9-19-3, is hereby set at the rate of 5% on gross retail income derived from lodging income only.
(B) The innkeeper’s tax shall be levied against those persons who are identified by category at I.C. 6-9-19 as persons who may be subject to the tax. (Prior Code, § 6-9-18-3) (Ord. 83M-001, passed 6-11-1983, 83 CCM 124; Ord. CC 90-2, passed 3-21-1990, 90 CCM 49–51; Ord. CC 90-3, passed 3-21-1990, 90 CCM 49–51; Ord. OC 96-5, passed 6-8-1996)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-23: Supplement contains: Current through local legislation passed on or before July 31, 2025; and State Legislation current through 2025 Indiana Legislative Service, Pamphlet #3).
Full Breakdown
045, codified from Ord. 83M-001 (passed June 11, 1983) and last amended by Ord. C. 6-9-19-3. C. 6-9-19 as persons who may be subject to the tax,' language the county has never narrowed to exclude short-term rental hosts, vacation-rental operators or bed-and-breakfasts: any person renting rooms, lodgings or accommodations to transient guests in the unincorporated county falls within the same category as a hotel or motel operator. The ordinance carries forward the original Prior Code § 6-9-18-3 numbering and has been amended twice by the County Council, first by Ord.
CC 90-2 and Ord. CC 90-3 (both passed March 21, 1990), without changing the 5% rate. Proceeds do not go to the county's general fund. C. 6-9-19 into it, directing that the money 'may be expended only as permitted' by that same state statute. C. 6-9-19. 021, establishes the County Committee for the Development of Tourism and Conventions, whose members are appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Board of Commissioners.
Violations & Fines
The county code does not print its own misdemeanor or civil penalty schedule for a lodging operator who fails to collect or remit the 5% tax. Sections 36.045 and 31.020 route enforcement, collection and fund administration entirely through I.C. 6-9-19, so a delinquent host or hotel faces whatever collection and penalty mechanism that state chapter provides rather than a separate County Code fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Elkhart County's innkeeper's tax apply to Airbnb and short-term rental hosts?
What is the innkeeper's tax rate in Elkhart County?
Where does the Elkhart County innkeeper's tax money go?
Who collects the Elkhart County innkeeper's tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Elkhart County
How Elkhart County compares: Cities with the Highest Short-Term Rental Taxes·Compare Elkhart County to another location·View the Indiana short-term rentals overview
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